A local house hunter’s options continue to be squeezed as one in seven Southern California home sellers have disappeared from the market in just a year.

ReportsOnHousing says 30,097 existing residences were listed for sale in the four-county area as of Oct. 5. That’s down 4,967 in a year or 14 percent — a regional drop in supply roughly equal to all homes currently listed for sale in San Bernardino County.

Local buyers are frustrated by the inventory shortage. New escrows opened in the past 30 days are down 5 percent in a year in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

And house hunters must act quickly to win a new home. ReportsOnHousing’s “market time” metric — measuring inventory vs. new escrows — estimated homes in the four counties take 70 days from listing to escrow as of Oct. 5 vs. 78 days a year ago. The report considers any measure under 90 days to be a seller’s market.

Considering a decent overall economy and relatively low mortgages rates from lenders willing to make mortgages, owners’ reluctance to sell is a bit of a mystery.

Various experts tie the shrinking count of sellers to everything from general stability in an aging population, the high cost and hassle of selling and moving, making staying and remodeling more attractive — all of which are leaving a seller with limited choices to replace the sold housing.

Here’s how the four-county markets look to ReportsOnHousing, which gets its data from broker networks for listing existing residences:

Riverside County had the region’s biggest percentage drop in listings with its 7,775 homes for sale down 1,709 in a year, or 18 percent. New escrows are off 11 percent. Market time of 89 days on Oct. 9 vs. 97 a year ago.

Orange County was next in thinning supply, with its 5,382 listings down 1,090 in a year, or 17 percent. Escrows dropped 10 percent with a market time of 67 days compared with 72 a year ago.

In Los Angeles County, 11,885 listings were found, down 1,651 in a year or 12 percent. Escrows are off 1 percent. Market time was 62 days vs. 70 a year ago.

And San Bernardino County’s 5,055 listings were off down 517 in a year or 9 percent; escrows fell 1 percent, and market time was 72 days vs. 79 a year ago.

What kind of housing might $350,000 buy you in Orange County? Start with 2678 Andover, Unit 26C, Fullerton with two bedrooms and a bathroom in 853 square feet. It sold for $350,000 on Sept. 20 … click through the slideshow to see more examples. (Courtesy: Shayda Hojjatpanah, Realty One Group)

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